GM raises prices on new pickup trucks by 6 percent

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) raised the price of its 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks by $1,500 this month, GM said on Friday.

The largest U.S. automaker will offer up to $1,500 cash back on the new trucks through the end of October as a way of temporarily offsetting the price hike, GM spokesman Jim Cain said.

The move, which was announced to dealers on Monday, amounts to a roughly 6 percent price increase on the redesigned pickup trucks. The truck roll-out began in June and represents GM’s most important vehicle launch since its 2009 bankruptcy.

Analysts have said the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, along with related SUVs, generate more than $12,000 per vehicle in profit and account for about 60 percent of the company’s global profit.